History of Danish Wind Power - Wind Power for the World: The Rise of Modern Wind Energy - page 33

Chapter 3
History of Danish Wind Power
Benny Christensen
Danish Wind Historical Collection (DVS), Smed Hansens Vej 11,
DK 6940 Lem St., Denmark
[e-mail]
To understand the worldwide success of Danish wind turbines
over the last decades, it is essential to look back at the last 150
years of wind power history in Denmark. With more than 7 000 km
of coastlines that are located close to the North Sea, Denmark has
extraordinary wind resources. But until the middle of the 19th
century, the level of wind energy use in Denmark was very similar
to other European countries like Germany, the Netherlands, France
and Great Britain. The establishment of new windmills had during
centuries been strongly regulated by the crown, but from 1852 to
1862 these restrictions were gradually removed. One result was
a growth in the total number of big, commercial grain-grinding
windmills from about 800 to more than 2 000 during the rest of the
19th century.